200TH POST GIVEAWAY!!

My last post I said that I would be holding a giveaway for my 200th post!  To sign up for the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post.  You don't have to jump through any other hoops - just leave a comment.  However, you MUST have an email address that I can reach you with.  The last time I did this, the person drawn had not left any way to get in touch with her, so I had to delay a while and then draw again.  Anyone can enter - I will ship anywhere.

This time, I will draw in one week, Sunday, November 7, 2010.  Below is the charm pack along with 2 fat quarters that the winner will receive.  There will also be some other surprise items.

There are lots of really cute fabrics in this charm pack!  Good Luck!!

I did make a Teddy Bears' Picnic book which I got from Kodak for $2.61!  It was free except for shipping.  It is real small, however, I wanted to see how it would turn out and I think it is really cute!

Here are some of the pages...

I like the pictures of the teddy bears in bed the best.  Now, I have to figure out if I can make a CD with the song on it.  I have been practicing it on the piano and I think I have decided to just make a CD of just the piano accompaniment - I don't think they will want to hear me singing it!  They can sing it as they turn the pages.

Here's another charm pack that I saw and got for me.

This is a sheet for the new grandbaby - due in about a month.  With both parents being pilots, I had been looking for airplane fabric and found this in Pennsylvania.  It only took about a half hour to make the fitted sheet.  I hope it fits good.

Good luck in the drawing!

I WON A GIVEAWAY!!!

I entered a lot of giveaways during the Fall into Fall Giveaway that lots of bloggers were participating in - and I won!  Sandi Blackwell is a designer and I won her new book!  She has a "no math" method of making setting triangles and her book explains it all with several patterns.  I'm planning to make a table runner as soon as I get  a spare minute (I have several projects to baste right now and plan to baste later this morning).  I hope you will check out her web site here.  

She also sent me this Just for Fun paper piecing pattern with fabric.  The fabric was folded together in a really cute star, but I took it apart before taking the picture - and couldn't figure out how to put it back together!  Looks like fun!  Thank you so much Sandi!

I made some chicken pincushions last week.  I've had the pattern for ages and have always wanted to make some and the fabric left over from a Judie Rothermel kit seemed perfect!  It was already cut into strips.  I bought some crushed walnut shells at a pet store to fill them with.

GUESS WHAT?  This is my 199th post!!!  That means the next time I post, it will be my 200th and I think I will need to have a giveaway myself!  I wonder what I will give?  Be sure to check back to see when I post my 200th.  I don't know how soon I will do it, but probably some time this week.

HERITAGE DAYS, BUTTONS AND TEDDY BEARS

Saturday was Heritage Days at Cedar Hill State Park and for several years my quilters guild has had a booth there where we demonstrate the quilting craft and talk to people about quilting.  It was a beautiful day and many people came to see our quilts, some new and some old.  One of our members has a quilt that is partly finished and she has all the parts labeled to show the anatomy of a quilt so that people can see how a quilt is made.

See the clear blue sky?  I took  a picture of the wind mill at Penn Farm (which is the part of the state park where the Heritage Days was held).

Part of my organizing from last week was cleaning off the top of our computer desk, which is located in my sewing room.   I have lots of wooden spools that were my Mom's and I put some of them in old canning jars to display them.

This is part of my button collection.  I love to keep buttons sorted in jars.

I just got these buttons at a garage sale for $1.00!

Last time we were taking care of Jonah, I started singing him a song while rocking him before his nap.  It was "The Teddy Bears' Picnic."  It is a real old song and I have the sheet music for it, so I decided to practice playing it on the piano.  I'm thinking about making a story book for Jonah and Abigail with the words of the song on each page and pictures to go with the words.  So I started taking pictures of teddy bears having a picnic in the woods.

The last phrase of the chorus is "At six o'clock, their mommies and daddies will take them home to bed, because they're tired little teddy bears."  

We'll see if I actually get the books made.

GETTING a little ORGANIZED and other stuff

I have had this notebook sitting on the shelf with lots of papers stuffed in it.  Yesterday I got some tabs and got lots of things put in the notebook!  Yea!!!  I'm sure I will find more things I want to save in it, but at least now it has categories to put them in.

 I also got some of my scraps organized (just some scraps - there are lots more).  This basket is for 1 1/2" strips of 30's fabric and reproduction fabric.  I will be making 4-patches.  The 30's will be paired with white fabric and the reproductions will be paired with tan or beige or another color.

Another find from my trip is the little bank book belonging to my maternal grandfather.  I have it displayed on my desk.

It's from the 50's.  My grandpa was a carpenter and after he and my dad and uncles built our house (in 1948), he built another house for him & grandma.  He didn't live very long after that, only until 1951.

I finished appliqueing the stars on the blue fabric on our trip and now the top of the flag quilt is finished. I will be basting some quilts soon and this will be one of them, but it isn't a top priority, so I don't know when I will get it quilted.

I have been wanting to make this quilt for a long time.

OLD SCRAPBOOK (and sweet grandchildren)

When we were in Illinois, we went through a lot of boxes of pictures, etc. which my Mom had saved (she saved everything).  I found a scrapbook that she put together when she was about 16 years old (see the magazine dated 1927).  She always loved children and apparently was looking forward to being a mother some day.  All her life, she loved babies and children - and they loved her (of course the candy in her purse didn't hurt).

On the cover, she put the name "Gladys" I think because she had told me she always liked that name (it was her middle name.

I just thought the scrapbook was really sweet and I'm keeping it as a momento.  It's amazing that the pages are in really good shape after all these years.

I recently got some current pictures of our darling granddaughter (20 months).  What a sweetie!

And here's Jonah (2 years 4 months) in the pumpkin patch (he wouldn't smile, but I thought it was a cute picture anyway).

I miss them so much!

BTW, our craft sale went well and we sold lots of stuff!  Another one is scheduled for November 7.

DOLL BEDS

I decided I had to show you the doll beds that will be for sale at the craft show.  I have three vintage doll beds.  DH fixed them as needed:  painted, refinished, screwed, glued, etc.   Of course, I made the doll quilts, the pillows, the mattresses and the sheets.

The white one above is an antique and required a little more work than the other two.  The one below is a vintage Cabbage Patch cradle.

I really like how this brown one turned out and the new, but vintage looking quilt really fits it well.  Actually, the quilts will be sold separately, but I put them on the beds for the picture taking.

I use faux pillow ticking fabric to cover the mattress.  Then I make a fitted sheet that the mattress slips into.

I put velcro on the end to keep the sheet on the mattress.  When (or if) the sheet gets dirty, it can be removed to be washed.  

I hope you can tell that I really enjoy fixing these doll beds up and hope someone will enjoy them.

SOME FINISHED PROJECTS

This is one of 4 table toppers that I have made for the craft show which will be tomorrow and the day after.  We are just about ready to start packing the car.

This quilt is one I made on special order for a friend from my former job.  She will stop by to pick it up tomorrow. 

Which block do you like best - the colorful snakes? the airplanes? cowboy boots?  or something else?

TOO BUSY TO BLOG!

I have been too busy to blog lately, but decided to take a few minutes to post some pictures today.  We will be participating in the Federal Employee's Association craft show in Dallas, TX this week on Oct. 6 & 7, so I have been sewing like a mad woman.

I made this little quilt for the little doll bed thinking I would sell both at the craft show, but my sister convinced me to keep the little bed for the antique doll that I posted about on September 22.

 As you can see, the doll bed is perfect for the 10" doll.

We don't know anything about the doll other than that it was in my Mom's closet for about 50 years.   I'm sure some (if not all) of you probably think I'm nuts to have dolls in doll beds in my home.  DH just rolls his eyes.

Below is a baby quilt that I made for the craft show.  I have never had any baby quilts at any craft shows before, but have had a few people asking about them, so I thought I would make a few and see what happens.

 It is a Chinese coin pattern and I use a charm pack to make the rows of coins.

I better get to work - only two more days to get everything ready!